18 



THREE YEARS IN THE PACIFIC 



the Church of Our Lady of Nazareth, built on the shore thirty 

 ^ miles from the Cape ; also, " Cabo Negro," and the Maris Isl- 

 ands, which are said to be fourteen miles from the <^Pa6-de- 

 Agucar," or Sugar Loaf, so called from its form, standing on 

 the west side of the harbor. 



The wind died away as the sun set, and we were obliged to 

 wait for the morning under easy sail. The morning was cloudy 

 and foggy, and we were unable to get into port that day. To- 

 wards evening we saw the islands again, and after night fall, 

 the light on "Ilha Raza" or Flat Island, or, according to the 

 easy translation of sailors. Razor Island. The sun set in a 

 heavy bank of clouds, shooting his rays high, and gilding the 

 skies in beautifully varied tints, and lighting up our hopes for 

 the morrow ; the night, like the preceding, was spent under 

 easy sail. 



About eleven o'clock on Tuesday morning the sea-breeze 

 set in, much to our relief, for we were weary with ^^hope de- 

 layed." As we drew near, the several small islands, sprinkled 

 near the mouth of the harbor, came into sight one after the 

 other, as the fog lifted slowly before the gentle breeze. Pre- 

 sently we saw the Pao-de-Agucar," rising nearly thirteen 

 hundred feet* into the air on the left of the harbor's mouth, 

 and on the right, the battlements of Santa Cruz, standing at 

 the foot of a high mountain. When still nearer, we perceived 

 the Brazilian flag of yellow and green ; the holy cross, emble- 

 matic of the religion of the country ; the telegraph and watch 

 towers, then the masts of the shipping in the harbor. When 



* Captain Beechey, E. N. measured it, both in 1825 and 1828. The first ob- 

 servation made its summit to be 1286, and the last, 1299 feet above the level 

 of the sea. — Beechey* s Voyage. 



To the westward of the Sugar Loaf, the land is very remarkable ; when ap- 

 proaching the harbor on a clear day, it presents the appearance of a huge 

 figure of a man lying on his back. The profile of the face presents an immense 

 nose and chin, while the **Pa5-de-Agucar" represents the toes of this great 

 man. Some exaggerating and waggish fancy has given to the whole the fami- 

 liar appellation of Lord Hood's nose ; whether that feature of his Lordship me- 

 rited the comparison, is not a matter of history ; — though Captain Basil Hall 

 states that, "the characteristic prominence of the Hood nose" has been well 

 known in the navy "for a glorious half century." 



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